By using careful camouflage and strategically placed
contouring, we can make our features look larger, smaller or way more dramatic.
We become wide-eyed, pillow-lipped seductresses with chiseled cheekbones and
jaw-lines. We morph into Pirate Wenches, Dying Swans, Roaring Twenties Flappers
and mid-century Pin Up Girls.With the
addition of metallic powders, glitter and crystals, we turn into Fairy Queens
and Every Goddess From Every Pantheon Ever.

Stage makeup looks gorgeous
when you’re under the lights… and totally damn scary when you’re on your way to or from a gig, making a pit stop
at a convenience store or fast food joint!And once you’re home, taking it off seems like such an incrediblechore.

Seriously, there’s almost nothing worse than waking up with some
of last night’s Stage Face still on, is there? The pearly, highly pigmented
turquoise eye shadow has turned into bright blue eye-boogers and you’ve got
adhesive marks on your cheeks where brilliant rhinestones once twinkled. The
fire engine red glitter you applied so carefully to your crimson lips migrated
while you were in The Land Of Nod… and now the lower half of your face looks
like it’s broken out in a case of sparkly smallpox.

Applying stage makeup is fun
and gratifying, but sadly, most of us don’t know the best ways to get it off.
Learning to take it off properly isn’t nearly as much fun…but your skin (and
sometimes, your costumes and/or street clothes) will thank you for it!

Here’s a quick ‘n’dirty guide to cleaning up and
taking off anything related to stage makeup:

Adhesives:Almost any type of adhesive can usually be
removed from the skin without scrubbing
if you use oil. Most oils will dissolve
the adhesives (or tape marks from fashion or toupee tape) very gently from the
face or body, including coconut, olive, jojoba, or almond oil.Saturate a cotton ball or pad with the oil,
apply to your skin and let it sit for 30-45 seconds, and the adhesive usually
comes off with one sweep. Use a second
saturated pad if you don’t get all of it removed with the first swipe.

For larger area of skin-on the body, not the face- baby oil works super well,
too.It’s best to avoid using on the face,
because it can make the delicate skin there prone to break outs…and that,
nobody needs!

If the adhesive you were using were Spirit Gum
(Mineral Spirits) regular oil might not cut it, so it’d be a prudent idea to
invest in some adhesive remover from a beauty supply or theatrical store.

Fake Blood:
Though it looks gory on stage, fake blood is usually easy to get off skin.Just give it a few swipes with a make up wipe
or even a baby wipe. If this doesn’t work, a few squirts of shaving cream
usually lift the discoloration immediately.Just be careful if you’re using menthol shaving cream around your eyes!

False Eyelash Glue Buildup: All the gunk from the lash glue builds up on your
faux lashes, and it not only makes them difficult to apply, it’s a germ magnet,
too! Cleaning off your falsies is pretty easy, though. Hold the last in one
hand, from the edge, and pick the excess, dried up gunk off the band of the lash
with a tweezers. It often comes off in a strip! If it only lifts off part way,
just repeat the process til the lash band is clean and visible. Dip a Q-tip
into alcohol, and swipe it across the band a couple of times to sterilize
it…but make sure you let the lash dry for a minute or so before applying it to
your eye!

Glitter: The
best way to remove glitter that has migrated is to use tape. This is especially
great if you’re doing a couple of numbers in a show, and need to do a quick
clean up, cause using lotion or a makeup wipe usually just spreads the glitter
around- I always keep a roll of tape in my gig bag!

Any kind of tape works, from
plain old Scotch tape to packing tape…. I’ve even used duck tape, though it
gives new meaning to the term exfoliation!
All you do is roll a piece of tape into a loop, and press it gently against the
area you want to clean. The glitter comes right up off your skin.This trick even works for areas where the
sparkles are concentrated, like glitter lips, though you’ll have to go over the
area a few times.

Hair Dye Stains On The Skin: This is gonna sound gross, but it works like a charm!
Mix up a paste of cigarette ashes and water, the thicker the better. Apply to
the hairline, (wherever the dye dripped) with a Q-tip, rub it in and leave it
on a minute or two. Rinse it off by wiping with a warm, soapy paper towel or washcloth,
finish by splashing water on the area. Remember, in the olden days, they made
soap with tallow and ashes- they’re a potent stain remover. If you don’t smoke
or the ashes are yucky to you, do the shaving cream trick mentioned above. You
can also try using rubbing alcohol, but it’s very drying to the skin, and
there’ll be scrubbing involved, so be sure to moisturize right after.

Makeup Stains
On Fabric: Try as we might, even if we’re very careful,
our stage make up sometimes transfers to our costumes or accessories. If you get
foundation or lipstick on a “fancy” fabric, like brocade, raw silk, velvet or
satin, you’re best bet is to take it to a dry cleaner- believe me, they deal
with these types of stains all the time!
However, if your make up rubs off on anything washable- such as a lycra blend,
a cotton or cotton poly blend, or synthetic chiffon ( hellooo? Skirts, veils
and scarves) you can get it out yourself. I’ve even lifted foundation and
lipstick stains from 100% silk veils and skirts- but you must be sure to do a
spot-test first, to make sure the fabric dye itself is stable.

All you need to remove make up is any or all
of the following:Dawn Dishwashing
Liquid, or baby shampoo, rubbing alcohol, and a commercial stain remover. My
favorite is Shout Advanced Action Gel, but seriously, almost all of them
work.

After you’ve done your test
on an inside seam or the tiniest corner of a hem and discerned that the
material you’re cleaning won’t lose it’s color, get started.

Treat the stain by spraying theShout or whatever product you’re using
directly onto it. Apply a generous amount, and let it sit anywhere from the
recommended five minutes to fifteen or twenty.Usually, even with the product still wet on the fabric, if the stain
looks like it isn’t there, then the stain remover has done its job. If you can
still see a bit of the stain, apply a little more of the stain remover.Or, you can pour a few capfuls of the rubbing
alcohol directly on to the area. Either way works.Next, fill up the sink or your tub with
lukewarm water- and err on the cooler side, because hot water actually sets
stains!Add a few squirts of Dawn or the
baby shampoo while the water is running. Place the garment in the water and
swish it around gently for a couple of minutes. Drain the water, lightly squeeze
the excess soapy water of the garment you’re washing, and refill the basin or
tub again. Repeat this step a couple of more times til all the soap and
cleaning products are gone, and gently squeeze the clean water from your
costume. Hang to dry or lay it flat- your choice, but do not let it dry in
direct sunlight- it’s the heat thing again. If any of the stain is still
visible after your costume dries, repeat the process again, and the second time
should eradicate all of the stain.

Liquid Latex:
Sounds crazy, but most liquid latex comes off the skin easily and with hardly
any scrubbing by using plain old soap and water. If you get a few patches where
the latex went on heavily, dab with a bit of oil, then wash with soap and water
once more.

One last word to the wise: I always have a small
Backstage Emergency Kit in my gig
bag that has a needle and thread, safety pins, bobby pins and much of the afore
-mentioned materials: a roll of scotch tape (or even a lint roller) a travel
sized pack of make up wipes and/or baby wipes, a box of Q-tips, a stain stick
and a tiny spray bottle/mister with rubbing alcohol.

#

If ya want to
learn how to get stage makeup ON before you take it off, purchase my “Bombshell:
Dramatic MakeUp For The Stage, Photos & Glamorous Occasions” here:

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Golden milk, sometimes called called turmeric tea, is hugely
popular these days. There’sdefinitely a
reason- actually, there are several- that it’s all the rage among Paleo Diet
devotees and really, anyone whose into self care and looking after theirwellbeing.

The health benefits of turmeric,which, along
with coconut milk, is the main ingredient in golden milk are numerous. Among
other things, it’s active compound curcumin is a powerful inflammation
fighter, and that’s what makes this four thousand year old concoctionrelevant to…well, everyone… but especially to dancers!

We live our lives constantly inflamed from traumatic
or overuse injuries- hell, even the zits we get from our stage make up arecaused by inflammation!

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Restaurant gigsare one of the primary jobs for many belly
dancers. They can be verylucrative, and
they’re usuallylots of fun because the
dancer gets to interact with the customersup close and personal.

However, while we sometimes
are completely in the moment and being transported by the music,there’s alsoa litany of “dancer problems” that go
hand-in-hand with these intimate shows,
which are often done in very small spaces, with no stage, dancing among the
tables.

I’ve been dancing at restaurants
fortwenty-seven years…and that pretty
muchqualifies me as having seen (and
heard) it all… or at leastpretty close
to it!

While the general public is getting abeautiful floor show, the scenario in the
performer’s mind- masked by a dazzling stage smile- is often quite
differentthan what the audience is
experiencing.

Here are some of the thoughts running through
my headat various times during
restaurant sets.